Chamonix is a picturesque French city in the foot of Mont-Blanc - the highest mountain peak in the Alps. The city itself is very small and you can easily cover most of it by walking. Though almost the size of a village, Chamonix has all modern amenities from ATMs to grocery stores to a wide variety of restaurants. Our first day in Chamonix was a little overcast and rainy so instead of wandering around the city looking for a spot for dinner we decided to get take-away turkish kebabs along with some dried meat, cheese, wine and of course blueberry and chocolate meringues for dessert. We sat in our hotel room and watched the World Cup football game and had a lovely picnic dinner.

The next morning we woke up to mostly sunny skies and learned that the cable car up to the summit was open. The cable car to the summit of Aiguille du Midi, was built in 1955 and held the title of the world's highest cable car for about two decades. There are now a few cable cars in South America that are higher however, it still holds the record as the highest vertical ascent cable car in the world, from 3,395 ft. to 12,510 ft. There are two sections: from Chamonix toPlan de l'Aiguille at 7,601 ft. and then directly, across the Les Pelerins glacier, to the upper station of the North Face of the Aiguille du Midi at 12,510 ft.

The name "Aiguille du Midi" translates literally as "Needle of the South" it gets its name from the fact that it points south when viewed from in front of St Michel’s church in Chamonix.

The temp at the bottom of the cable car was about 70 degrees but only about 30 degrees when we got to the top. Needless to say I was freezing! Thank goodness Kingsley brought along his paragliding pants and gloves for me to put on as an extra layer or I might have frozen to death.